Democracy Slipping Away?

A series of new national surveys suggest record numbers of Canadians are fed up with the state of our democracy. Elizabeth May warns that “we are on a slippery slope to the loss of our democracy.” A Toronto Star article quotes Canada’s most eminent political scientist, Peter Russell, stating that a Harper majority is “an indication that parliamentary crime pays.”

In preparation for the next election, Canadians who value democracy need to devote all their energies to reversing the frightening cascade of anti-democratic measures which Elizabeth May, Joe Clark and so many others have catalogued.

The Harper administration’s record on climate change is nothing less than a crime against future generations and a denial of the democratic rights of citizens.

For Our Grandchildren is just one of many organizations fighting to reclaim for future generations the freedoms we senior citizens have known and expect — and our voices are getting louder.

(ED. Note: To which we add the following excerpt from the commentary by Brian Singh in the Globe & Mail, January 3rd entitled

Is Ottawa’s era of hyper-partisanship coming to an end?

“[P]artisanship/representation tension will be amplified in 2014. Those who are able to best elevate representation over party loyalty, simultaneously with alignment to their brand and values, could return bricks to their base and strengthen their foundation for 2015. While unrealistic and in contravention of our party system, the payoff could be to reconnect with Canada’s underserved centrist voters who are hungry for representation over blind partisanship.”]

Visit the Fair Vote Canada web site to see what some citizens are trying to do to make it better. If you like what you see, sign their declaration.

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3 thoughts on “Democracy Slipping Away?”

Conscious ethical Canadians who care must what threat does the destabilisation of our planets climate pose to the web of life, to national security, to human mental , physical, spiritual, environmental and economic well being.
This group of concerned ethical citizens want to prosecute those causing extensive damage to fish, forests, water, soil, to endangered species, to ocean and forest ecosystems, to our planet’s climate for ecocide. Radical capitalist call them radicals http://www.eradicatingecocide.com
Was the BP toxic disaster in the Gulf of Mexico ecocide
Is mountain ecosystem destruction from coal mining sustainable, ecocide?
Are the dead zones in our oceans ecocide?
Is plundering sharks, blue fin tuna, whales, elephants ecocide?
Is it possible for political leaders to act with criminal negligence in addressing those acts. Has Stephen Harper Conservatives acted with due diligence or criminal negligence. Does he intend to abide by the Copenhagen Accord?
Recognizing extensive damage to our environment as criminal as ecocide is being championed by Polly Higgins a UK Barrister. Recognizing ecocide is essential if we intend to live sustainably
You can find out more about this campaign at http://www.eradicatingecocide.com

Corporatism is another name for fascism. When Stephen Harper decided that it was more important to be CEO of Fossil Fuels Canada than to be Prime Minister, the writing was on the wall. It is quite obvious that Harper has consistently placed the interests of corporations and investors before the interest of Canadians. He is now negotiating (secretly of course and without parliamentary scrutiny) a series of trade deals that will help his race to the bottom: attack unions, drive down wages, import low wage foreign workers, remove social justice safeguards, ignore science, destroy the environment, sabotage international climate negotiations, ignore inconvenient laws, use security certificates while posing “tough on crime”.
This man is dangerous.